Military Wiki
in: Pages using ISBN magic links, Articles using infobox military person, Articles incorporating text from Wikipedia,
and 13 more

Maurice Robert Johnston

Sign in to edit
Sir Maurice Robert Johnston
Born 27 October 1929(1929-10-27) (age 95)
Allegiance United Kingdom United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1949–1982
Rank Lieutenant-General
Commands held 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 20th Armoured Brigade
Battles/wars Borneo
Awards Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Commander of the Royal Victorian Order
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
Other work Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire

Lieutenant-General Sir Maurice Robert Johnston KCB CVO OBE (born 27 October 1929)[1] is the former Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements), 1981–1982, and Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 5 July 1996 to 10 November 2004.[2][3]

Early life and army career[]

The son of Brigadier Allen Leigh Johnston OBE and of his wife Gertrude Geraldine Templer, Johnston was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[1] From Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1949,[4] promoted lieutenant in 1951,[5] and captain in 1955,[6] when he also transferred to The Queen's Bays.[7] He served in Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Northern Ireland, and Borneo before being posted as an instructor at the Army Staff College from 1965 to 1967.[1] He was promoted major in 1962[8] and lieutenant-colonel in 1967.[9] He was Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff from 1968 to 1971 and commanding officer the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 1971 to 1973,[1] before promotion to brigadier,[10] and command of the 20th Armoured Brigade, 1973 to 1975.[1] He was Brigadier (General Staff) at Headquarters UK Land Forces, from 1977 to 1978, joined the Senior Directing Staff of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1979,[1] with acting promotion to major-general,[11] was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 1980,[12] his rank was made substantive in 1980,[13] and Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) in 1981, with promotion to lieutenant-general,[14] before retiring in 1984.[15]

Business career[]

After retirement from the British Army in 1982, Johnston was managing director of Freshglen Limited (1984 to 1985) and of Unit Security Limited (1985 to 1988), then Chairman of Secondary Resources PLC, 1988 to 1991 and of Detention Corporation, 1988 to 1994. He was also a director of Partek Cargotec Limited from 1984, and of Shorrock Guards Limited from 1988 to 1991.[1]

Voluntary work[]

He has served as a governor of Dauntsey's School since 1987 and was also a governor of St Mary's, Calne, from 1988 to 1994, as well as supporting Wiltshire County Scouts. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1990,[16] as High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1993–1994,[17] and served as Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1996 to 2004.[1][3][18] As Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, he was an ex officio member of the Court of the University of Southampton.[19]

Publications[]

  • Johnston, Sir Maurice, 'More Power to the Centre: MOD Reorganisation' in RUSI Journal, March 1983[20]

Honours[]

Private life[]

Johnston married Belinda Mary Sladen in 1960, and they have one son and one daughter.[1]

In 2004, Johnston was reported to live at Ivy House, Worton, near Devizes.[18][30]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Who's Who 2003 (A. & C. Black, London, 2003), page 1146
  2. ↑ "No. 54463". 11 July 1996. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/54463/page/ 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "No. 57490". 9 December 2004. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/57490/page/ : appointment of successor, John Bush
  4. ↑ "No. 38703". 2 September 1949. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/38703/page/ 
  5. ↑ "No. 39283". 10 July 1951. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/39283/page/ 
  6. ↑ "No. 40541". 19 July 1955. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40541/page/ 
  7. ↑ "No. 40544". 22 July 1955. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/40544/page/ 
  8. ↑ "No. 42728". 10 July 1962. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/42728/page/ 
  9. ↑ "No. 44357". 30 June 1967. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/44357/page/ 
  10. ↑ "No. 46174". 7 January 1974. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/46174/page/ 
  11. ↑ "No. 47745". 15 January 1979. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/47745/page/ 
  12. ↑ "No. 48100". 18 February 1980. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48100/page/ 
  13. ↑ "No. 48229". 23 June 1980. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48229/page/ 
  14. ↑ "No. 48511". 2 February 1981. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48511/page/ 
  15. ↑ "No. 49619". 16 January 1984. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/49619/page/ 
  16. ↑ "No. 52202". 4 July 1990. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/52202/page/ 
  17. ↑ "No. 53247". 15 March 1993. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/53247/page/ 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Free at last for Sir Maurice in Salisbury Journal, 17 November 2004, online at salisburyjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008
  19. ↑ The University Court from Southampton University Calendar 2005, online at soton.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008
  20. ↑ Smith, Paul, Government & Armed Forces in Britain 1856–1990 (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003, ISBN 1-85285-144-9), page 250 online at books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008
  21. ↑ "No. 45262". 31 December 1970. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/45262/page/ 
  22. ↑ "No. 48837". 30 December 1981. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/48837/page/ 
  23. ↑ "No. 50583". 30 June 1986. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50583/page/ 
  24. ↑ "No. 52691". 21 October 1991. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/52691/page/ 
  25. ↑ "No. 54586". 20 November 1996. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/54586/page/ 
  26. ↑ Agenda and Minutes of Special Meeting of Swindon Borough Council on Thursday, 18 November 2004, online at swindon.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008: "...this Council resolves by virtue of Section 249(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, to hereby admit Sir Maurice Johnston, KCB, OBE, to be an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Swindon as a token of the high esteem in which he is held by the townspeople of the Borough and in recognition of his eminent services to the community."
  27. ↑ "No. 57509". 31 December 2004. https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/57509/page/ 
  28. ↑ Sir Maurice is made a CVO dated 5 January 2005, at wiltshiretimes.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008
  29. ↑ Annual Accounts of the Shaw Trust Ltd for year ended 2 April 2005 online at shaw-trust.org.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008
  30. ↑ Johnston, Sir Maurice at Burkes Peerage. Retrieved 12 May 2012

External links[]

Military offices
Preceded by
Ian Baker 		Assistant Chief of the General Staff
January 1980 – December 1980 		Succeeded by
Robert Pascoe
Preceded by
Sir Stephen Berthon 		Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements)
1981–1983 		Succeeded by
Sir Donald Hall
Honorary titles
Preceded by
Sir Roland Gibbs 		Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire
1996–2004 		Succeeded by
John Bush
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Maurice Robert Johnston and the edit history here.
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.